North American F-100B/F-107

Last revised November 27, 1999

The F-100B was originally going to be the follow-on to the F-100A. It
was pictured as a faster version of the F-100A day fighter, optimized
to take maximum advantage of the power offered by the J57 jet engine.

The F-100B project began in 1953 as company design NA-212
for an improved F-100A. On March 4, 1952, North American Aviation
management had asked their design team for an estimate of engineering
requirements for the F-100B. The F-100B retained the original swept
wing planform of the F-100A but had a thinner wing cross section with
a 5 percent thickness/chord ratio rather than the 7 percent of the
F-100A. An upgraded J57 engine was provided, and the aircraft was to
be fitted with a variable-area inlet duct and a convergent-divergent
exhaust nozzle. Total thrust of this new engine was to be 16,000
pounds. Dual landing-gear wheels were to be provided which would make
operations from unprepared airfields possible. The fuselage was to be
area-ruled and was to have an increased fineness ratio. The fuel load
was to be carried in integral wing tanks, no provisions being made for
the carrying of external fuel tanks. The F-100B was to expected to be
approximately the same size and weight as the F-100A, and with the
increased power and the aerodynamic refinements that would be made
available, a maximum speed of Mach 1.80 at high altitude was
anticipated. Production was expected to begin in 1955.

At the same time, North American began to study the feasibility of
adapting the Super Sabre as an all-weather interceptor. The project
became known as the "F-100I" (I for *Interceptor*) or "F-100BI",
although these designations were not official USAF designations. This
aircraft was similar in overall configuration to the F-100B except
that it had a modified cockpit and was fitted with a nose radome. In
order to accommodate the radome, the forward fuselage had to be
redesigned so that it had an undernose variable-area air intake.
Provision were made for underwing drop tanks, and the wing leading
edges were to be heated to prevent icing. An all-rocket armament was
to be fitted. The F-100BI was intended to bear much the the same
relation to the F-100A as the F-86D did to the F-86A.

On October 20, 1953, the factory designation NA-212 was assigned to
the project. Work began on wind-tunnel studies and a detailed cockpit
mockup was built. Work was started on a full aircraft mockup.

In November of 1953, North American started to give some consideration
to adapting the NA-212 to a fighter-bomber role. Six hardpoints were
added underneath the wing, and the wing structure, controls, and
cockpit were revised accordingly. Single-point refuelling capability
was provided and the windshield and canopy were revised to improve the
pilot's view. A retractable tailskid was installed and the flight
control system was upgraded by the addition of pitch and yaw dampers.

Neither the F-100B nor the F-100BI attracted all that much interest on
the part of the Air Force. Consequently, on January 15, 1954, the
program was cut back drastically at the request of NAA president Lee
Atwood. Plans to undertake full production were abandoned, and the
program was scaled back to a comprehensive engineering study.

On April 16, NAA decided to settle on the general configuration of the
F-100B as being basically that of the F-100BI interceptor. However,
later that month, NAA learned that the Air Force was interested in the
fighter-bomber configuration of the NA-212. On May 16, 1954, North
American directed that all work on the F-100B interceptor project be
terminated and that all efforts now be concentrated on the
fighter-bomber adaptation. The nose radome and the chin intake of the
interceptor version were, however, to be retained.

In the meantime, NAA engineers had discovered that low-speed handling
properties could be improved and landing speeds lowered by about 30
mph if an inboard blown flap were used for boundary layer control.
These were incorporated into the design at an early stage. The F-100A
had been designed without any wing flaps at all.

Among the changes needed to adapt the F-100B as a fighter-bomber was
the change from a 7.33 to an 8.67 load factor, the installation of a
maneuvering autopilot, the mounting of an AN/APW-11A radar beacon, a
Low-Altitude Bombing System (LABS), an AN/ALF-2 chaff dispenser, an
AN/APS-54 radar warning system, a plotting board and a cockpit
computer. Larger and heavier wheels and brakes had to be designed,
and provision had to be made for electric fuseing of external stores.

On June 11, 1954, the USAF authorized a contract for 33 F-100B fighter
bombers. On July 8, 1954, the Air Force notified NAA that the
designation for the project had been officially changed to F-107A, the
USAF concluding that since this aircraft was so vastly different from
the original F-100A it deserved a completely new fighter designation.
On August 4, 1954, the contract was cut back to only nine service test
aircraft. USAF serials were to be
55-5118/5126.

Late in 1954, the Air Force issued General Operational Requirement 68,
calling for a tactical fighter-bomber and an air-superiority day and
night fighter. North American apparently responded to this
requirement, but it is not quite sure how the F-107A fits into GOR-68.
In any case, work continued on the F-107A at a feverish pace. In the
meantime, Pratt & Whitney had developed the J75 turbojet, a newer and
more powerful adaptation of the J57. NAA enthusiastically embraced
this engine as the powerplant for the F-107A.

North American engineers redesigned the vertical tail of the F-107A
fighter-bomber as a single-piece, all-moving slab. A similar
innovation was adopted for the North American A3J (later A-5)
Vigilante carrier-based strategic bomber. A complex
spoiler-slot-deflector system on the wings provided lateral control.
The wing leading edge was similar to that of the F-100A and had
automaticaly-actuated slats, but the wing trailing
edge was made up entirely of tabbed and slotted flaps. There were
no ailerons, lateral control being provided by a set of spoilers above
and below the wing. The aircraft had an early fly-by-wire control
system known as the Augmented Longitudinal Control System (ALCS).
It used air data system inputs to provide a comand of pitch rate.
The major offensive load was to consist of a nuclear weapon carried
semi-submerged in the fuselage belly on the centerline.

Unfortunately, wind tunnel tests showed that there would be major
problems with weapon release and separation caused by airflow
interference from the nose radome and chin air intake. In order to
correct this problem, it was decided to move the air intake from the
nose to the top of the fuselage just behind the cockpit. This
intake was fitted with a complex system of variable inlet ramps
to adjust for optimal airflow to the engine at various speeds.
A two-position (3.25 degrees and 12 degrees) engine inlet duct
system was installed in the first two prototypes for the initial flight
tests. This system incorporated a vertical wedge-shaped splitter in
the middle of the intake, with four hydraulically-powered doors
attached to the sides of the wedge inside the intake which would
extend or contract as needed to adjust the intake throat area for
optimal airflow to the engine. In the third prototype, the system
was made fully automatic and the doors were continuously adjustable.

The main landing gear was attached to the fuselage (rather than the
wing as in the F-100) and retracted forwards into bays in the
fuselage. The dual-wheeled forward landing gear retracted forwards
into the fuselage. There was a retractable tailskid underneath the
rear fuselage to prevent damage during inadvertent high-angle
landings.

The F-107A was to be equipped with the NAA Autonetics Division XMA-12
integrated fire control system in the nose. This system was to be
capable of detecting airborne targets, selecting a victim, and
calculating a lead pursuit course for attack with guns or rockets.

Because of the unusual location of the air intake, it was necessary for
the canopy to open straight up rather than to open in the usual
clamshell fashion. In an emergency, the pilot could eject right
through the canopy without having to jettison it first.

On January 1, 1957, the F-107A contract was amended to provide for
only three flying examples, plus one static test airframe.

The first F-107A (serial number 55-5118) took off on its maiden flight
on September 10, 1956 at Edwards AFB, with NAA test pilot Bob Baker at
the controls. It went supersonic on its first flight, although there
was some minor damage upon landing when the drag chute malfunctioned
and the aircraft overran the end of the concrete runway and ended up
in a ditch. The aircraft was quickly repaired and flew again three
days later.

55-5118 achieved its first Mach 2.0 flight on November 3, 1956.

55-5119 flew for the first time on November 28. It was equipped with
the armament of four 20-mm cannon and was assigned the job of carrying
out performance and integrated control system testing, and was to
check out the separation characteristics of the centerline store.

55-5120 flew for the first time on December 10. It was the first
F-107 to have the fully-automatic variable area inlet duct.
Unfortunately, the variable-geometry duct did not live up to its
expectations. In spite of repeated attempts at steady climbs at
subsonic or supersonic speeds and even zoom climbs from maximum speed
at 35,000 feet, 55-5120 was never able to get above 51,000 feet. This
was blamed on problems with the variable-geometry intake duct and with
the J75 engine, both of which were relatively new at the time. In
addition, there was an annoying "buzz" in the variable air intake at
high speeds, which was traced to instability of the airflow at the
inlet.

55-5118 was asssigned the taks of exploring the zoom climb
characteristics. Test pilot Al White was able to start off at 39,000
feet at Mach 2.1, and was able to reach a maximum height of 69,000
feet.

55-5119 was assigned the job of evaluating the weapons delivery
system. It was the only one of the three F-107 prototypes to be
fitted with the four 20-mm M39 cannon. Wind tunnel tests had suggested
that there might be problems with the release of weapons from the
streamlined centerline container at supersonic speeds. After some
initial problems, on February 25, 1957, test pilot Al White finally
successfully delivered the weapon store while flying at Mach 1.87 over
the Naval test range at China Lake.

The F-107A found itself in direct competition with the Republic F-105
Thunderchief for production orders. In March 1957, the USAF decided to
go with the F-105, and the F-107 was relegated to aerodynamic testing
duties. The first and third F-107As were turned over to NACA for high
speed flight testing work.

The first F-107A (55-5118) reached NACA at Dryden on November 6, 1957.
It was given the NACA number of 207. However, it was so mechanically
unreliable that it was grounded by NACA after only four flights and
was scavenged for spare parts to keep the other one flying.

The third F-107A (55-5120) reached NACA at Dryden on February 10, 1958.
The flight testing of the variable geometry intake of the aircraft was
cut short because of its mechanical problems. Eventually, NACA gave
up on the F-107A's variable-geometry inlet altogether and it was bolted
fixed in position, limiting top speed to Mach 1.2. This aircraft also
experienced buffeting problems at high angles of attack. 55-5120 completed
some forty test flights for NACA/NASA during 1958-59. On the basis of
F-107 flight testing, North American refined the design of the
side-stick planned for the X-15. 55-5120 was damaged on September 1,
1959 when test pilot Scott Crossfield was forced to abort a takeoff
because of control problems. Both tires blew and the left brake burst
into flames. Crossfield was uninjured, but the resulting damage to
the F-107A was deemed to be too severe for economical repair, and NASA
decided to scrap the aircraft. It was cut up and its fuselage shipped
to Sheppard AFB in Texas where it was used for as a fire fighting
training aid.

The other two F-107As still survive. After being retired by NASA,
F-107A number 55-5118 was turned over to the Pima Air Museum in
Tucson, Arizona, where it is now on display. F107A number 55-5119 is
in the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.